Battery service tool



June 13, 1944.

V H. w. YERIAN BATTERY SERVICE TOOL Filed Jan. 10, 1942 INVENTOR. HA FOLD W YEP/AN BY 1 WW A TTOE/VE'YS uvu LLIVICN lb.

Patented June 13, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a tool and more particularly to a tool for use in removing, replacing, and repairing storage batteries.

One object of the present invention is to provide a wedging tool for spreading battery terminal lugs or loops provided with a laterally projecting shoulder arranged to be struck or hammered. Other objects are to facilitate the removal and handling of battery lugs and the like by providing a single wedging tool having a plurality of wedging surfaces of differing slope and width joined by relatively sharp edges suitable for scraping the battery terminal and lug surfaces to remove corrosion and the like; to provide a tool for cleaning, trueing, enlarging and brightening the contact surfaces of a battery lug and the like by arranging reamer teeth and scraping edges perpendicular thereto on a member insertable within the lug to permit the re moval of corrosion and oxidized surfaces and the burnishing of the metal by reciprocating or rotary movements of the tool within the lug, or both; to facilitate forming good contacting surfaces on both the lug and the battery terminal with a single tool by providing the end of the lug reaming and scraping tool with a chisel edge for scraping and burnishing the surface of the battery terminal; and to facilitate the operations of removing and replacing a storage battery by combining tools for all of the foregoing purposes on a single handle. Other objects will appear from the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a battery tool made in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; and

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the tool illustrated is formed from a single bar I of a suitable metal with the various functional parts formed at opposite ends. One end of the bar is widened and tapered to form a wedging tool 2. The body of the wedging tool 2 is preferably offset to one side of the axis of the bar I forming a laterally projecting shoulder 3 which can be hammered or tapped while the tool is being held in proper position by grasping the bar I. The shoulder 3 is preferably arranged at an obtuse angle to the axis of the bar I so that if the shoulder should be struck a blow of excessive force either through inadvertence or carelessness the hammer or other tool employed will tend to slip off the shoulder 3 55 and avoid injury to the battery. The wedging portion 2 is formed with opposed angularly related end surfaces 4 which are relatively narrow and which merge together at the point 5 and diverge rearwardly from the point at a relatively steep angle terminating at the hammering or striking shoulder 3. The wedging tool is likewise formed with side surfaces 6 which similarly approach each other at the point 5 and diverge rearwardly therefrom at a substantially smaller angle than the end surfaces 4.

Preferably the angularly related end and side surfaces 4 and B are arranged as illustrated so that the end surfaces 4 merge together while the side surfaces 5 do not come entirely together at the point 5 so that the point 5 forms a short edge extending perpendicular to the axis of the bar I as shown in Figure 2. The surfaces 4 and 6 are preferably disposed at right angles to each other so that the wedging tool 2 is rectangular in cross section, the junctions of the adjacent surfaces forming sharp edges I suitable for scraping the surfaces of the battery around the terminal, the top and bottom surfaces of the terminal lug and other relatively flat surfaces.

The arrangement of the hammering or tapering shoulder 3 offset laterally from the body of the bar I, as illustrated, permits the bar I to be extended rearwardly and provided with other operative portions so that the wedging tool 2 can be tapped or driven without striking or injuring the operative surfaces formed at the other end of the bar. In the preferred embodiment, as illustrated, the bar I is formed at the opposite end with a tool 8 for reaming, scraping, burnishing, and the like the interior surfaces of a battery terminal lug or similar apertured member. One side of the bar is cut with relatively blunt reamer teeth 9, the surfaces of which are formed on an are generally conforming to the curvature of the opening in the battery terminal lug or other aperture to be serviced, as illustrated in Figure 3. Preferably the teeth 9 extend at a slight spiral pitch with reference to the longitudinal axis of the bar I as illustrated in Figure 2 so that the reamer surfaces operate with a burnishing action as the tool is reciprocated through the aperture of the terminal lug and operate with a more powerful cutting action as the tool is rotated and held against longitudinal movement. Any desired combination of these actions may be obtained by combining reciprocation and rotary movements of the reamer teeth 9 against the interior surfaces of the aperture in the battery lug.

The reamer tool 8 is preferably formed in a roughly trapezoidal shape on the side opposite the teeth 9 as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 thus providing a pair of relatively sharp edges H) extending substantially parallel to the axis of the bar I. The body of the tool 8 is preferably substantially smaller than the diameter of the aperture in the battery lug or other opening to be serviced so that the tool may be readily inserted in the aperture within the lug and either the reamer teeth 9 or the longitudinal edges It) may be brought into contact with the surfaces. Thus the surfaces of the lug which are to be secured in electrical contact with the terminal post of the battery may, if badly corroded or oxidized, be first scraped by rotation of the tool with the edges H1 in contact with the surfaces and then finished, burnished, and polished by the reamer teeth 9.

The extreme end of the bar I is preferably formed with an inclined surface ll disposed at an acute angle to the surface I! opposite the teeth 9 so that the surfaces II and I2 merge together to form a relatively sharp scraping edge l3 extending across the end of the tool. The surface 12 is preferably slightly concave as illustrated. The edge I3 is particularly adapted for scraping the exterior surfaces of the terminal post on the battery and the curvature of the surface I! prevents the edge from slipping sidewise oil the post and also provides a, greater length of contact between the edge I3 and the post. Thus the tool has a relatively short sharp chisel edge at one end and a relatively wide chisel edge l3 at the opposite end, while the wedging surfaces extending from the edge 5 may be driven as desired by striking the offset shoulder 3 without injuring the sharp edges at the opposite ends of the bar. In use all operations for removing a storage battery, cleaning and renewing the electrical contact surfaces of the battery posts and the terminal lugs, and replacing the batter may be accomplished with my improved tool and an ordinary pair of pliers, the pliers being used to manipulate the clamping bolts of the battery terminal lugs and to tap the shoulder 3 in using the wedging tool 2. Thus the servicing of storage batteries is greatly facilitated since all operations may be completed with a single tool.

The tool is preferably made of a single piece of relatively soft annealed steel. The metal of the storage battery terminal posts and lugs is ordinarily extremely soft and likewise the corrosion and oxides which are formed are suificiently soft to be removed by steel surfaces which have not been hardened. Preferably a sufficient degree of hardness to prevent accidental deformation 0r dulling of the edges is obtained by using a medium carbon steel and all internal stresses are removed by a full annealing or spheroidizing operation. In this way the durability of the tool is greatly increased since the resistance of steel to corrosion, oxidation, or discoloration by electrolytic action or by the action of the acids or corrosion found on the storage battery terminals is much higher when the steel is in its annealed condition than when it is hardened. It is well known that the acids and corrosion which accumulate around the terminals of storage batteries are quite corrosive and this corroding action is greatly increased if the tool accidentally short circuits the batter or is subjected in any way to current from the battery. By forming the tool of steel having suilicient carbon to provide the necessary hardness to prevent accidental deformation and removing all internal stresses by full annealing or the like the durability of the tool is greatly increased.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts and features may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as delined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A storage battery service tool comprising a shank portion having a handle intermediate its ends, a head formed on one end of said shank portion, said head including a wedging surface arranged generally in continuation of one side of said handle portion and a cooperating wedging surface diverging from said first wedging surface and from the axis of said handle, said wedging surfaces extending substantially to a point at the free end of said head, and a hammering shoulder extending laterally from said handle portion to said last-mentioned wedging surface, whereby said hammering shoulder is arranged between said handle portion and said head.

2. A storage battery service tool comprising a shank portion having a handle intermediate its ends, a head formed on one end of said shank portion, said head including a wedging surface arranged generally in continuation of one side of said handle portion and a cooperating wedging surface diverging from said first wedging surface and from the axis of said handle, said wedging surfaces extending substantially to a point at the free end of said head, and a hammering shoulder extending laterally at an obtuse angle to the axis of said handle from said handle portion to said last-mentioned wedging surface, whereby said hammering shoulder is arranged between said handle portion and said head and facing slightly away from the axis of said handle portion.

HAROLD W. YERIAN. 

